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Today's News

The headlines of both the Roanoke Times and The News&Advance read “National D-Day Memorial at risk of closing.”(May29, 2009. ) As a volunteer of the Memorial and a citizen of Bedford County I implore the residents of Central Virginia not to let that happen.

Montvale Elementary School welcomed hundreds of bikers to the school last Thursday for a stop-over along their cross-country route to the Vietnam Memorial In Washington D.C.

The stop at the school has become an annual event, full of meaning to both the students and the riders. The bikers were making their final leg of the Run for the Wall, an effort that has now been observed for two decades.

A Bedford woman was injured in a boating accident Sunday at Smith Mountain Lake, one of two incidents reported over the holiday weekend by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

According to Lt. Tony Fisher of DGIF, Sunday’s accident involved a pontoon boat that was traveling near channel marker R27A, in the Roanoke River portion of the Lake near Bridgewater Marina, and a personal watercraft that was traveling the other direction. The PWC struck the pontoon boat in the right front as it was crossing in front, Fisher said.

On behalf of the Bedford County Ministerial Association I’d like to thank Thaxton Baptist Church for holding a job fair on Friday, May 15. On that day representatives of 12 companies that are hiring met with 30 people who came looking for work. I have no idea of the results but I’ll bet somebody who was unemployed on May 15 will be working soon, if not working already, as a result of that job fair. If so then every bit of work that went into that event was worth it.

Liberty University decided last week to remove its financial support of the LU College Democrats group, a move that seems in keeping with the pro-life and pro-family principles the college espouses. In fact, the university appears to be bending over backwards to make some accommodation for the group, but, apparently, to little avail.

As the summer months quickly approach and families start to plan vacations, our country continues to struggle with high energy costs. Unfortunately, Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and other Democrats in Congress are strongly pushing legislation which implements a cap and trade system or more accurately: cap and tax. The simple truth behind the Waxman energy plan is that it raises taxes, kills jobs and will lead to more government intrusion.

Like a dazed dragon you thought you’d slain, former vice president Dick Cheney has arisen from the muck and the ruin of the Bush administration to become the new spokesman for something he really believes in: torture.

Republicans may have thought they had it bad enough when their only spokesman seemed to be radio fanatic Rush Limbaugh. Now they’re saddled with the angry and smug countenance of a man many of them are horrified to see as the new face of their party.

In our March 13 edition, a frequent letter-writer named David McLoughlin, wrote expressing skepticism about the Bible (Which Bible?) and who Jesus is. Then, in our May 13 edition, he noted that nobody responded to his previous letter and asked if that means there is no theological response.

With the thought in mind that atheists have their own holiday (April 1), area pastors may have simply chosen to ignore the letter. Here, at the risk of demonstrating that I’m not as wise as they, is my attempt at a theological response.

Two Florida residents have been charged with having stolen credit card numbers and using them at Wal-Mart this month.

On May 14, a report from the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office states that the department was notified by a victim in Chester that his credit card number was used to make purchases at the Wal-Mart in Bedford. The victim had reported the suspicious use of his credit card account to the Colonial Heights Police Department, but wanted to make the BCSO was aware that suspects were in the area, the report stated.